A little about Shelley…
I am the founder and Managing Director of The Work Shop Resourcing Ltd. Since its inception in 2005, we have created two great branches, and with the help of Georgina have grown a wonderful team who have the same core values of Honesty, Transparency and Care.
How (and why) did you get into recruitment?
I walked into Alfred Marks in 1988 looking for a new job after being made redundant from my Service Manager role, and was asked if I had ever thought about recruitment! It looked pretty straightforward, and after two gruelling meetings in Central Birmingham (including psychometric testing), I was offered the job and started as a Temps Controller.
After 12 months, the Manager left and I took on her role. We then went into a huge recession and the branch went from 7 staff to 3 – there were no jobs, but lots of people looking for work and it was an incredibly difficult 8/9 months. We came out of that to a mini boom and during that time, the branch grew from 35 temps a week to 450 and we had 12 staff. I left to have my daughter in 2000, and on my return realised that I needed to work part-time hours, an option not available to me at Adecco. So I started on my own, initially in Northampton, and then after selling that business in 2004 and moving to Dorset, I set up again on my own in 2005.
What do you like best about recruitment/your job?
Clearly, I love recruitment! No day is ever the same, the highs are high, and the lows are low but it’s the best job I have ever had!
And not work related…Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever met?
I was visiting my poorly aunt in Cedar Sinai hospital in Los Angeles once and got into a lift with Lloyd Bridges. I was gobsmacked as I’d had a crush on his son Jeff Bridges since I was 19! He said ‘Hi’ and thanked me for letting him get out of the lift before me!
